Bharati Shipyard Q3 net ticks up, outlook steady

Bharati Shipyard posted a nearly steady profit growth for the quarter-ended December and expects outlook to remain stable over the next few quarters, a top official told reporters on Thursday. The shipbuilder posted a net profit of about 329 million rupees compared with nearly 318 million a year ago while net sales grew nearly a third to 3.36 billion rupees.
"We expect to maintain this growth rate. We have an order visibility for the next 2-3 years," Managing Director P.C. Kapoor told a news conference, while adding he is bidding for several defence orders.
Bharati Shipyard has an order book of 49.87 billion rupees, as on Dec 31, he said.
"There is still some slowdown in cargo vessels," said Kapoor, a naval architect from IIT Kharagpur. "People are still waiting to see what the demand-supply situation is. They are all waiting for the recession to get over," he told reporters.
The firm did not receive any fresh orders in the December quarter, he added.
Ahead of the announcement, shares in Bharati ended down 2.3 percent at 271 rupees in a flat Mumbai market.
Bharati Shipyard, which holds 45.88 percent stake in Great Offshore is not in talks with rival ABG Shipyard for a further stake buy, Kapoor said.
ABG holds more than 15 percent in Great Offshore, which was recently embroiled in a six-month-long takeover battle with the two shipbuilders slugging it out to take a majority stake in the former.
ABG exited the race after rival Bharati raised the open offer price to 590 rupees a share compared with ABG's 520 rupees.